Revenge
by Sammie Spitz
Summary: (11) My first Perfect Dark fic! Please, take it easy on me. Just because Cassandra's gone doesn't mean Joanna's dataDyne problems are solved...
1. Chapter 1

Revenge  
  
By Sammie Spitz  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"So, this is a Skedar weapon?" Velvet asked, as she and Joanna practiced at the firing range. At the moment, they were practicing with the Reaper.  
  
"Yes. Not a very good one, I'm afraid." Joanna replied, "Very inaccurate."  
  
"Well, let's see how bad it is." Velvet always liked to explore with these new weapons to see what they could do. She braced herself and aimed the gun towards the target. This seemed challenging enough with the gun's weight. She became even more interested in what would happen if she squeezed the trigger. When she did, the force of the gun was so great, it pushed her back a few feet. She let go of the trigger and the gun eventually stopped. She put it back down on the counter.  
  
"THAT is one power house of a gun!" Velvet gasped, "That could beat the living hell out of anything!" Velvet was disappointed, however, when she found that she hadn't scored very much on the target.  
  
"Let me show you a trick." Joanna told her. She took the gun, reloaded it, then knelt down as she fired at the target. When she checked the score, Velvet noticed that it did, indeed, score better.  
  
Joanna happened to take notice of the disappointed look on her sister's face. She commented, "I also practice with it a lot. So, I'm used to it. Why not try the Laser for a little?"  
  
Joanna handed her the Laser. Velvet looked at the device in confusion as Joanna put the Crossbow on to practice with. She'd never seen this weapon before, let alone used it. She took it and looked it over. Then, she started getting the idea and fastened it to her forearm.  
  
"There you go." Joanna smiled to her, "Now, let's see how you do with it." She watched on as Velvet finally figured out how to fire it, took aim, and hit a bullseye.  
  
"Nice job, Velvet! You picked that up in no time!" She smiled a little and then went back to practicing with the Crossbow. As they were practicing, the speaker suddenly blared on.  
  
"May I have your attention please." Boomed the speaker, startling the girls and causing both the shots to fly in different directions, "Will Agents Joanna and Velvet Dark please report to Mr. Carrington's office."  
  
"Why do you think he wants to see us?" Velvet asked.  
  
"Possibley a mission." Joanna answered, "Either way, we'd better hurry."   
  
  
  
Carrington passed slowly back and forth, as he usually did during a breifing, as Joanna and Velvet sat on the sofa. He finally sat down in his chair and said, "There's been another dataDyne development."  
  
"But, I thought Cassandra was dead." Joanna commented curiously.  
  
"It isn't Cassandra." He replied, "It's another woman who is running the company in her stead. We have heard that she has some kind of blood relation to Cassandra, but we haven't confimed it yet. However, we have heard that there is some kind of experiment going on in there. We need you two to go in and download a file that is supposed to contain information about it."  
  
"Certianly, Sir, when should we get started?"  
  
"Tonight. Now, you two better start getting ready."  
  
  
  
The jumpship sped through the city, dodging buildings and traffic. Joanna and Velvet were on board. Having put the jumpship on auto-pilot, Joanna turned to Velvet to explain the mission better.  
  
"There's an office on 80th floor. The computer inside has the information we need. We have to find the office, get the files and get out. In case anything happens, Johnathon is standing by."  
  
"How do we know which office has the files?" Velvet asked.  
  
"DataDyne mark their offices. It's office 8064. We're coming up to the building. Get ready!" The jump ship hovered over the roof and the two agents got out via a rope. It brought back memories for Joanna. Of her first mission here. She shook this off when she thought of something else. Velvet had never been here before. She didn't know how tight security could be.  
  
"Have your gun ready, Sis." She warned in a whisper, readying her Falcon 2, "This place can be a death trap waiting to be sprung if you're not careful."  
  
Velvet nodded. The two slowly crept down the stairs on the roof. At the bottom of the stairs, Joanna turned to Velvet and said, "I'm going to go ahead a little and look around. Cover me."  
  
Velvet kept watch as Joanna walked ahead. Suddenly, she noticed something. A guard, walking nearby, and definatly within sight.  
  
"Joanna!" She called in a whisper, "Jo! Get back here!" Realising she couldn't hear her, she used the comlink and called, in the same whisper, "Jo!"  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I just saw a guard. He's right-"  
  
"Hold it right there, bitch!" A voice shouted. Velvet slowly turned around and came face-to-face with a tall, muscualr, and very intimidating dataDyne guard. She knew, from Joanna's stories, that they could be big, but THIS?! His gun was even worse. It was about the length of his arm.  
  
He pointed it right at her chest and told her, "Put your hands in plain sight or you're wall art!"  
  
She did as she was told. She didn't know what else to do. He dwarfed her. All the while, she kept praying in her mind, 'Please, Jo. Please, I need help.'  
  
Soon, her prayers were answered. A familiar voice suddenly shouted, "FREEZE!" Then, there was a gun shot and the guard fell to the ground.  
  
Joanna walked over and asked, "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine. Thank you."  
  
"Your welcome. I found an unguarded elevator. It should save us some time. Come on!"  
  
As they rushed off, little did they know that he wasn't the ONLY guard. A second guard, upon hearing the gun shot, had rushed over to the source. When he noticed the agents near his workmate's body, he stayed hidden until they left. Then, he suddenly recognized the agents. He'd been told by both the old and new boss to keep his eyes peeled for them. And, if they showed up, tell her right away. He quickly rushed back to the Security Control Room and patched into an intercom, shouting, "Ms. de Vries!"  
  
  
  
Helen de Vries looked out the window of her office. It was her sister's office before the incident. Helen looked very much like her sister, Cassandra, especially since she was wearing similar clothes. However, there were a few differences. Her hair, the same color as Cassandra's, was longer and she was a bit shorter. She was very close to her sister, so, the news of her death was a shock. However, to try and carry on her legecy, she took on the task of running dataDyne, successfully getting it back on it's feet.  
  
"Ms. de Vries!" A voice shouted over the intercom.  
  
She went over to it and answered, "Yes? Is there a problem?"  
  
"Two agents from the CI just broke in!"  
  
"Have you identified them?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am. I beleive they are Joanna and Velvet Dark."  
  
The sound of one paticular name made her blood boil. She was in such a rage, she almost banged a hole through the desk. However, she controled her anger. She'd been waiting for this. It was time to put her plan into action.  
  
"You remember what we went through about...her..don't you?" She asked.  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"About the trap?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"And the little surprise?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"And how I want this done?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"Good. Now, I can't stress this enough...I WANT HER ALIVE!!! It won't do any good if you kill her. Bring her to me ALIVE!!"  
  
"Yes, ma'am. I'll get right on it!"  
  
  
  
The elevator stopped on level 80. Joanna and Velvet came down from the elevator ceiling. They carefully crept down the hall, searching the doors for the number they were looking for. At one point, Velvet was shaken when she noticed a surveillence camera on the wall. She watched it for a while, then realised it wasn't working. In fact, all the cameras in the area were like that. It was driving her suspicions farther and farther.  
  
They finally came across the office. Much to their surprise, it was, not only unlocked, but open! Joanna turned to Velvet and said, "This is it. I'll go and download the files. Cover me."  
  
Her suspicions finally got to her. She grabbed Joanna's arm and pulled her back, telling her, "Wait a minute."  
  
"What's wrong?" Joanna asked.  
  
"Doesn't this seem a little strange to you? This is one of their biggest projects, right?"  
  
"Yes, that's why we're here."  
  
"Then, why isn't their any security?! There are no guards patroling. All the cameras are deactivated. The door isn't locked. Hell, it's not even closed! These bastards must be up to something."  
  
"Hmmmm....you have a point. Good thinking, Velvet. Alright, we'll still go in to get the files, but we'd better be on our guard."  
  
Joanna slowly crept to the door and pushed it open. Velvet was close by, keeping an eye out for anything else that was out of the ordinary. The office was empty, save for the computer on the table. Joanna slowly went over to it, her Data Uplink in hand. She came close to the computer and turned on the Uplink. As she was, they both looked around carefully. Velvet was suddenly startled by the sounds of something banging around in the vents.  
  
"Got it!" Joanna said. At that moment, a strange metal sphere suddenly dropped out of the vent. They crept over to it and it suddenly relesed a cloud of thick smoke. They started coughing and fighting to find the exit. A guard rushed in and bashed Velvet into the wall, stunning her. In the smoke, Joanna failed to notice the guard sneaking up behind her. He clubbed her in the back of the head and knocked her out cold. He then picked her up and rushed out, carrying her.  
  
When the smoke finally cleared, Velvet recovered from the blow. She looked around, shocked to find that Joanna was gone. She noticed the Data Uplink on the floor. She examined it. It wasn't broken and it had the information! She stashed it away on her belt. She then switched her watch to Radar Mode. The Utility Watch was a new gadget from CI. It had a variety of features, Radar Mode being one of them. She turned it on, and set about the task of tracking her sister's radar becon.  
  
  
  
As Joanna awoke she had a sharp feeling in her arm. She winced, then opened her eyes. She had a look around. She definetly wasn't still in the office. She was lying on her back on some hard, metal surface. When she tried to get up, she made a shocking discovery. She was bound down by straps at the head, shoulders, elbows, midsection, wrists, waist, knees and ankles. Whoever had her obviously didn't want her to leave anytime soon.  
  
As she struggled, two guards came to either side and reached for their guns. A female voice, off to the side, suddenly called, "That won't be nessecery, gentlemen. She isn't going anywhere."  
  
Joanna looked up and noticed a woman standing next to a table. The table had an array of devices, each looking more sinister than the one next to it. She had a bad feeling about what this woman wanted.  
  
"I'm not talking!" She hollored, causing both guards to draw their weapons, "Hell will freeze over before I tell you anything, you God damn bitch!"  
  
One of the guards pistol-whipped her in the side of the face to settle her down. The woman approached the table Joanna was laying on and said, "I'd watch my language if I were you."  
  
Joanna looked up and was shocked. This woman looked so much like Cassandra de Vries, it sent chills up her spine.   
  
Suddenly, the door banged open. Velvet rushed in, Falcon 2 armed and said, "Alright, hands up! Get away from her and I won't open fire!"  
  
"You're hardly in the position to make demands." The woman replied. She snapped her fingers and the two guards went to either side of Velvet, "You're outnumbered."  
  
As if on cue, the jumpship suddenly flew by the window. The door opened and shots rang from it, taking out one of the guards. The woman pulled a smaller version of the metal sphere from earlier from her suit and threw it to the ground. A cloud of smoke filled the office. By the time it cleared, both the woman and the remaining guard were gone.  
  
Velvet went over to the window and opened it, then went back to undo the straps holding Joanna to the table. A ramp connected the jump ship's door to the window ledge and Johnathon came out.  
  
"Are you alright?" He asked, "Usually, when they do this, they..." He happened to notice the table of devices, "..Torture you."  
  
"I'm fine. Thank God you two came when you did, I think she was ready to do something." After Velvet undid her ankle strap, they all got on the jumpship and headed back to the Institute.  
  
"Thanks for coming." Joanna asked, then she joked, "It's nice to know you're good for something."   
  
"You should thank Velvet, she called me about what happened." They then noticed that Velvet was fast asleep, possibley since it was so late.  
  
"That woman." Joanna muttered.  
  
"What about her?" He asked, realising he was refering to the woman holding her captive.  
  
"She has to be the scariest sight I'd ever laid eyes upon. A few changes, and she could have been the spitting image of Cassandra de Vries!"  
  
"Maybe she's related to her after all. Well, try and relax. The fiasco's over."  
  
To Be Continued... 


	2. Chapter 2

Revenge  
  
By Sammie Spitz  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The digital alarm clock on the night stand buzzed, alerting to the owner that it was time to get up. Velvet slugishly rolled over and hit the off button. She sat up, pulled off the covers and looked around her dorm room. The Carrington Institute had several dorm builings near the property, where some of the agents stayed. The dorm rooms were small and simple. Each had a bed, closet, drawers, and desk. There were a couple of bathrooms on each floor of the building.  
  
Velvet quickly got dressed. Then, something dawned on her. Usually, Joanna had to come in and wake her up. She always had trouble getting up in the morning. Today, however, she got up herself.  
  
'Joanna didn't oversleep today, did she?' Velvet wondered, 'No, that's impossible. She never oversleeps.' Just for the heck of it, she decided to check and see. She went to Joanna's dorm, which was right next to her's. She knocked on the door, but got no answer.   
  
"Joanna, are you awake?" She called. She finally just went in. Much to her surprise, Joanna was still in bed. Velvet went over and shook her, "Joanna, wake up."  
  
"Huh?" She groaned, sleepily. She sat up and said, "So, you got up on your own?"  
  
"You overslept a little."  
  
"Really?" She looked over at her clock, which read six o' clock. "Not that much, though, at least."  
  
Velvet then noticed something else. Joanna didn't look too good. She seemed a little sick and a little more tired than she usually was.  
  
"Are you alright?" Velvet asked.  
  
"Sure, I'm fine. Why would you ask such a thing?" Joanna was also notorious for almost never being sick. However, Velvet figured it wouldn't hurt to check. She put her hand against Joanna's forehead.  
  
"You have a fever. Are you sure everything's alright?"  
  
"I'm fine. It's probably just a cold. It won't affect me at all."  
  
  
  
Elvis walked towards the Carrington Institute, trying his best to cover himself in a trenchcoat. Luckily, when he was walking through the city, people seemed too busy with whatever they were doing to notice someone who was less than five feet tall, dragging his trench coat behind him. He got near the Carrington Institute building and then looked around for the dorm buildings.  
  
"They're around here somewhere." He said to himself. He then noticed the small cluster of buildings. He ran over and looked at the doors, "Here it is. Dorm Two."  
  
He opened the door and stepped in. He then muttered to himself, "Now, how am I supposed to find it? I guess I'll have to ask someone."  
  
He noticed a woman walking by, looking at a magazine. He cleared his throat and asked polietly, "Excuse me, do you know where Joanna Dark is, by any chance?"  
  
The woman started to look down as she asked, "I'm not sure. Why do you...AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" She then rushed out the door, screaming.  
  
Elvis put his hands over his face and shook his head, saying, "I HATE it when this happens. It makes everything more difficult than it has to be."   
  
  
  
Johnathon happened to be walking by the dorms when he noticed the woman rushing by screaming. He asked, "Sid, what's wrong?"  
  
"ALIENS!!!" She shreiked. Johnathon stopped her and asked her where she saw it. Trying to calm down, she replied, "It's in Dorm Two. It was awful! It had a huge head and big, black eyes and -"  
  
"Calm down, Sid. If it's who I think it is, he's harmless. I'll show you." Sid was very skiddish about actually meeting the creature, but gave up when Johnathon insited she come. When they went back, Elvis was still there. Deciding it was too hot to be wearing the trench coat, he took it off. He was wearing his US flag vest and tennis shoes.  
  
"Hello." Elvis greeted, handing Sid the magazine she dropped on her way out, "The next time you decide to scream like that, could you use a lower pitch. My hearing's a little more sensitive and something like that can be a headache."  
  
"Uhhh...ehehehe." She just took the magazine and left.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Elvis asked.  
  
"She doesn't get out too much." Johnathon answered. Then, he laughed a little and said, "Every time you come for a visit, you always manage to cause a scene."  
  
"All I did was ask her if she knew where Joanna was. She took one look at me, let out that horrible shreik, and went rushing out the door. Well, do you have any idea where she is?"  
  
  
  
"Joanna, are you sure your alright?" Velvet asked, as they practiced on the firing range.   
  
"Relax, Velvet. I'm fine." Joanna told her. Suddenly, she put her hand against her face and started breathing a little harder as a headache came on.  
  
"What's wrong?"   
  
She finally started to get the upper hand on the pain and replied, "It's just a headache. Nothing to worry about." She put the gun back and said, "I'm going to quit on the firing range for a while. Are you coming?"  
  
"In a bit." Velvet replied, practicing with the Devestator, "I'm starting to like this."  
  
Joanna smiled. Velvet was a mechanical genius and loved trying out new machines and weapons. She added, "I'll be up in Hacker's Central if you need me."  
  
On her way out, Joanna passed by Foster. He was at a table, tinkering with a gun. She decided not to bother him. He was usually nice, but hated being bothered while he was fooling with something. Before she could leave, she suddenly started getting a stomach cramp. She bent over and started groaning. Foster put the gun down and turned to her.  
  
"You alright?" He asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." She responded, recovering.  
  
He noticed she was grabbing her stomach and commented, "I know how you feel. In order to eat in this country, you need a cast-iron stomach."  
  
Joanna tried to smile, then rushed out the door. Foster shrugged a bit before continuing his work. He sighed, "How can people live like this here. Lunch is a matter of life or death."   
  
  
  
Joanna leaned against a wall outside the door. Beleiving she'd recovered from whatever happened, she got back to her feet and started for an elevator. She went to one, pressed the button and waited for it to come back down to ground level.  
  
"What in bloody hell is going on?" She muttered to herself. The elevator came down. She stepped in and continued, "I've barely even had a cold before. Much less anything like this."  
  
When the elevator stopped at the second floor, she concluded, "Maybe Foster's right. It must have been something I ate."  
  
  
  
"Hmmmm. No, I guess that wasn't a C after all." A hacker said.  
  
"Guess not. Damn it, it's like some of these symbols stand for two or three different letters!"  
  
"Things aren't going so well, I take it?" Joanna asked.  
  
"You said it."Grimshaw muttered, "It's driving me crazy!"  
  
Then, Velvet came in, with Elvis close behind. She greeted, "Hi. How's it going?"  
  
Knowing she was refering to the decoding, Grimshaw gave her a sour look. Joanna told her, "Wrong subject."  
  
"I must have been typing at this for over an hour." Grimshaw told her, "I've barely even seen some of these symbols. At this point, I could really use one solid clue right about now."   
  
Suddenly, the screen of the VidCom blinked to life. Static started to cover the screen. The hacker sitting next to it took immediate notice.  
  
"What the hell?! I think you might want to take a look at this!" He called. Everyone crowded around the VidCom. The screen cleared to reveal a desk with a chair behind it, it's back turned to the camera. The chair turned around to reveal the same woman Joanna and Velvet saw when they took the files from dataDyne.  
  
"Hello, Carrington Institute." She began, "I am Helen de Vries, new CEO for dataDyne. I'm taking up the role in my late sister, Cassandra's, place. I want to let you know that, as long as I'm around, you shouldn't try pulling anymore stunts around here. Security has been tightened. Plus, I am a genius of revenge. And, you wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to any of you, right?"  
  
Joanna, outraged by Helen's boldness, shouted, "Was that a threat, you lousy bitch?!"  
  
"Temper, temper, Miss Dark." Helen commented.  
  
"How in bloody hell do you know my name?!"  
  
"I know you indirectly, through my late sister. And, frankly, I don't see why she had so much trouble with you."  
  
"And just WHAT do you mean by that?!"  
  
'Uh-oh.' Velvet though, worried, 'She's losing her temper again.'  
  
"Well, we used to talk on the phone a lot. She had quite a few choice words about you and said you were the trickest agent she had to deal with in years. But you don't really look all that great if you ask me."  
  
"And I suppose you consider yourself any better? Because Cassandra sure couldn't fight worth a damn!"  
  
"I'd watch my mouth if I were you. You wouldn't want little Velvet getting hurt, right?"  
  
Joanna was being pushed to her limit. Doing her best to stay calm, she responded, "Listen, you. Threatening the Institute is bad enough. But, when you threaten my family, that is the last straw. I have a good mind to go over there and shoot the crap out of you!"  
  
"Then...why don't you?"  
  
Joanna was surprised by the comment and asked, "Is that a challenge?"  
  
"Yes. I want to see you at the abandoned Fort Morgan military base tonight. If you don't come, I'll hunt you down."  
  
Just before Helen signed off, Joanna added, "You're going to be sorry you ever made any bloody threats like that."  
  
  
  
"Joanna, are you sure you really want to do this?" Velvet asked, as she watched Joanna practice in the Combat Simulator. Joanna wasn't quite as sharp as she usually was.  
  
"Velvet, I'm fine." She said, "I don't really understand why you're so nervous about.." Suddenly, she started acting unsteady. She leaned against a wall in an attempt to try and recover. In a panic, Velvet turned off the simulator and rushed to her side to see if she was alright. By know, Joanna was starting to feel her energy drain away. Velvet rushed to her and knelt down beside her. Gradually, Joanna began to recover.   
  
She staggered to her feet and breathed, "I suppose I was working myself a bit harder than I thought. I don't want to tire out before the big match."  
  
"Joanna, you don't realize how sick you probabley are! You really shouldn't do this."  
  
"Our honor is at stake. Besides, you heard what she said. She'll come after me anyway if I don't show up."  
  
Velvet couldn't argue with that kind of reasoning. She just sighed, then wrapped her arms around Joanna in a tight hug. She said, almost in tears, "I just want you to be careful."  
  
Joanna smiled, hugged her back and said, "I promise. Now, I'd better get ready."  
  
  
  
"I can't beleive she's really going to go over there tonight." Velvet muttered as she and Elvis sat on a couch in the lobby.  
  
"How hard can it be for an expert like Joanna to fight someone like Helen. She's fought people like this before."  
  
"Not while she's sick."  
  
"How sick can she be?"  
  
"She's running a fever. She's exauhsted. She'd getting terrible headaches. At one point, she nearly fainted! And, that's only what I know about!"  
  
"Oh...THAT sick."  
  
"To top it all off, I heard a rumor that Helen trained her sister's body guards! Joanna means too much to me! Almost all of the rest of our family is back in England! I don't know if I can take losing her!"  
  
Velvet then started remembering back during the Skedar incident. After the Institute was attacked, Joanna seemed to disappear. She was gone for a few days and she'd almost lost hope in ever seeing her again. So, needless to say, she thought it was a miracle when the Maians got her back to Earth, with nothing but the injury to the foot she got from the Skedar that grabbed her in the ruins. But, after that, she hated to see Joanna push her luck. She always dreaded the day when her stubborn attitude would finally get her in trouble and she'd end up coming back from a mission in a body bag.  
  
To try and change the subject, Elvis said, "I heard you and Joanna got some files from them last night."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Did you get any useful information from them?"  
  
"Actually, no. Not yet, anyway. They were coded pretty heavily. I wonder if Grimshaw's figured it out yet."  
  
  
  
"I just can't crack this damn code!" Grimshaw growled in frustration, "I've tried everything I can think of!"  
  
"Let me have a peek at it." Velvet asked. She looked over his shoulder at the screen. The document was a mess of symbols, both familiar and strange. Velvet looked at it till her eyes began to ache, but didn't have much luck.   
  
"I can't make heads or tails of it, myself." She said. Then, the symbols caught her eye again. Some of the symbols, though clearly not part of the English language, were familiar to her somehow. Then, she suddenly remembered seeing similar lettering on the Maian guns in the firing range. Maybe Elvis could figure this out.  
  
"Elvis, why don't you have a look at it?" She asked. Elvis was, needless to say, surprised. He knew very little Earth codes.  
  
"Alright, I'll give it a shot." He told her with a shrug. He went over to the computer and looked the symbols over. The more he read the file over, the more familiar the symbols began to look. Until it finally hit him.  
  
"This is Ancient Maian." He explained. He sat down at the computer and started typing the code so the computer could translate. Most of the symbols were translated into Earth letters. But, not all of them. There was still the remaining symbols to worry about, which seemed to be random punctuation symbols, such as number signs, exclamation points and asterickses.  
  
"At least, some of it is." Elvis corrected. Velvet and Grimshaw leaned in to have a look. Something soon caught Grimshaw's eye.  
  
"Looks like they replaced all the vowels with symbols." He said. He sat back down and looked at it some more, "But, even then, it's still pretty messed up...unless."  
  
"Unless what?" Velvet asked.  
  
"THAT must be why we were getting thrown off! It was still in code!" He started typing on the keyboard madly, excited that he finally had a breakthrough in the code. It took another ten minutes of trial and error, but eventually, it was finally translated into a readable document.  
  
"Boy, they left nothing to chance with coding this." Grimshaw said, "I've hardly ever seen anyone go through all this trouble. Three codes, one of which they invented themselves!"  
  
"I guess after Joanna showed up, they tightened things." Velvet reasoned, "Plus, this is supposedly one of their biggest projects. You'd imagine they'd be desperate to hide it."  
  
"Well," Grimshaw added. He was now coming to his favorite part of the job, snooping, "let's see what they were so desperate to hide."  
  
To Be Continued... 


	3. Chapter 3

Revenge   
  
By Sammie Spitz  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Poison 46." Grimshaw read.  
  
"Chemical warfare?" Velvet asked.  
  
"Possibly. Let's see what else we have here. Here's the symptoms. Headache, stomach pain, fatiuge, faintness, nausea."  
  
"Aren't these some of the symptoms you said Joanna had?" Elvis asked.  
  
"Yes. What else is there?"  
  
"Uh-oh." Grimshaw suddenly said.  
  
"What?! What is it?!"  
  
"Apparently, it's lethal. If we don't get the antidote in time, it will kill her!"  
  
"But, she's leaving for..and she's..oh my GOD!" Velvet rushed out towards the hanger.   
  
  
  
"Joanna!" She called. But, she caught a glimpse of a small craft leaving. Her panic grew worse. She couldn't go out there and fight in the condition she was in. As she stared up at the sky, trying to think of what to do, one of the hanger engineers came up next to her.  
  
"Anything wrong, Velvet?" He asked, wiping some grease from his wrench.  
  
"I need to catch up to my sister, Shane!" Velvet paniced, "She's in trouble!"  
  
"Was she the one heading off to Morgan?"  
  
"Yes and she's getting in over her head. Listen, I'm going to get some weapons together and get some permission from Dr. Carrington. Do you think you can find something for me, so I can catch up to her?"  
  
"Sure." As Velvet rushed off, thanking him for his help, he walked back into the garage area, still rubbing his wrench with the rag. He then said, thoughtfully, "Looks like Elliot's gonna get his field test."  
  
  
  
As Velvet was rushing back for the elevator, she crashed into Johnathon. Elvis finally got a chance to catch up. Grimshaw had found one more piece of important information and sent Elvis to give it to her. However, Elvis was unfamiliar with Earth elevators. He fought with it for a while and then finally decided to forget about it and take the stairs.  
  
"What the hell?!" Johnathon screamed as Velvet crashed into him.  
  
She helped him up and said, "Sorry, but it's an emergency! Come with me!" She grabbed Johnathon's sleeve and dragged him to the elevator. Elvis rushed in, not about to go hiking up the stairs again.   
  
  
  
Carrington was busy shuffling through paper work. As he was, he was startled by hearing his office door open and a familiar voice suddenly yell, "Sir, we have a problem!"  
  
He started, causing his paper work to go flying all over the office. He looked around at the papers, now scattered all over the floor and let out an annoyed sigh. Velvet stood in the doorway, holding Johnathon by the sleeve. Elvis followed, exhausted from keeping up with her.  
  
"I just finished sorting this and getting it perfect after Foster came rushing in to show off something."  
  
"Jo's in trouble! She went to Morgan!"  
  
"I know. She told me about it. Swearing and cursing like a mad woman because Helen made threats."  
  
"It's a trap!"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"A trap! Helen was the one that made her sick!"  
  
"Oh my.."  
  
"I need to go after her!"  
  
"Hold on, now. We need to handle this with a little reason. Do you have any idea if there's an antidote?"  
  
"Yeah, but we don't know where it is." Velvet said.  
  
"Grimshaw might have found out." Elvis interrupted, "They put map in the file and marked something on it. It's in some kind of hidden lab they have about twenty miles outside of the city limits. That might be where the poison was made and they might have an antidote there."  
  
"Alright, we've gotten somewhere." Carrington mused, "Johnathon, go look into this and see if you can find anything."  
  
"Yes, sir." Johnathon gave a salute and left.  
  
"Sir, there's still the matter of Helen de Vries." Velvet said, "I need to get there and try and stop her."  
  
"Velvet, are you sure you should-"  
  
"Please, sir! I can't just stay here, waiting and hoping this whole thing ends without her dying."  
  
"Well, if you really think you should-"  
  
"Thank you, sir! I promise you won't regret it!" Velvet rushed out the door. Elvis, confused since everything went by so quickly, went back to see if he could help Grimshaw anymore.  
  
Left alone in his office, Carrington picked his paperwork back up again, then fell back into his chair. He muttered to himself, "Damn, what are the consequences of actually letting her do this..."  
  
  
  
Shane was working on a hoverbike in the main hanger when Velvet came back. Before heading back to the hanger, she ran into the weapons lab and borrowed a Crossbow and Falcon 2.  
  
"Shane, I'm here!" She called. The engineer looked up and smiled.  
  
"There you are. I was wondering when you'd get here. Elliot's been pretty anxious."  
  
"Elliot? Who's Elliot?"   
  
"You'll see. Elliot!" He called. There was a clanging sound from a doorway. He laughed a little and continued, "It's alright, Elliot. Don't be shy."  
  
A robot stepped out of the doorway and walked towards them. It was a giant robot cat, about the size of a large horse. It's blue-eyed sensors looked the garage over, clearly his first time out in a while. The creature stopped next to the engineer, who patted him on the head.  
  
"This is Elliot." The engineer said, "He's going to be your ride to Morgan and kind of a partner. Elliot, this is Velvet, the girl that you'll be with."   
  
Elliot looked at her. Giving a smile, he greeted, "Hi."  
  
"Hello there." She said.  
  
"You'll have to have some pacience with him. This is gonna be his first field test and he's not very experienced."   
  
"So," Elliot said, "You ready?"  
  
"I guess." Velvet said, nervously, "So, I'm riding him?"  
  
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you." Elliot told her, "I haven't lost a rider yet."  
  
"Have you even had a rider yet?"  
  
"Don't worry. Just climb on." Elliot bent down to let Velvet on, since he was so tall. Velvet was unsure about it. Then, she decided that he was her best chance at getting to Joanna before Helen pumped her full of lead. She slid onto his back. When she was on, he stood up, scaring her a little. She didn't think he was THIS tall.  
  
"So, what happens if I fall off?" Velvet asked. She then found herself being held on by metal restraints at the ankles and waist. She smiled a little, "Thanks."  
  
"Well, if we want to catch up to your sister, we'd better get moving." He turned on his anti-gravity engine and folded up his legs.  
  
Before he left, Shane said, "Remember, Elliot, this is a serious mission. No horsing around."  
  
"When have I ever let you down?" Elliot said with a smirk. He then zoomed off out the garage door.  
  
"Just come back in one piece and I'll be happy." Shane muttered.  
  
  
Joanna stood on the roof of Fort Morgan. The abandoned military base was in the middle of nowhere. It was located about sixtey miles away from the area the CI was located in. She had her Falcon 2 in one hand, the Laser strapped to the other and the Callisto strapped to her hip. As she looked out at the vast scenery, memories started coming back of her first mission.  
  
  
  
Joanna walked cautiously onto the roof, Dr Caroll close behind them. The jumpship haden't arrived yet, so they were going to have to wait a few minutes longer. As they did, a familiar voise behind them asked, "Going somewhere?"  
  
Joanna turned around to face Cassandra, her Falcon 2 ready to fire. However, she decided against opening fire when two of Cassandra's body guards came up next to her, guns ready. She let the gun down. Dr Caroll moved behind her. He didn't want to get into anymore crossfires.  
  
"Something I can do for you, old woman?" She asked, unphased.  
  
"Return our sapient immediatly! You don't know what you're doing!"  
  
"Yes I do." she answered. Dr Caroll folded himself up and dropped into Joanna's hand, "I'm leaving."  
  
She turned to leave, but turned around again when she heard the bodyguards' guns click. Cassandra demanded, "One last chance. Give it back! And you can come and work for me."  
  
Luckily, that was about the time the jumpship arrived. Seeing the doors open, she made a dash for them, calling, "Sorry, gotta shoot."  
  
As she jumped in, she heard the guard's guns go off. She turned around in midair and returned fire, causing her to land roughly against the wall. She wasn't sure if she'd hit anyone, but she thought she heard a scream. Shaken by the mission, she just sat down, trying to catch her breath.  
  
  
  
As Joanna stood, lost in thought, she failed to hear footsteps behind her or the sound of a rifle being loaded and readied. She did take notice, however, when the gun fired and missed her feet by half an inch. She turned and saw Helen near the stairs. She was dressed like one of Cassandra's body guards and had her hair tied back. She let the rifle in her hands down for a minute.  
  
"So, you actually showed up?" She said, "For a minute, I was wondering if you'd even come, Dark."  
  
"I never turn down a good challenge." Joanna smirked.  
  
"Then, you're in for a treat." She looked like she was about to fire the rifle again. But, in a split second, she pulled out a pistol and fired it at Joanna. She quickly tried to dodge to the side. Helen thought she saw her trip. Joanna raised her arm and fired a laser at the rifle. It struck the rifle and caused it to spark. Joanna stumbled past Helen and almost fell down the stairs as she slipped into the store room below the roof. This all happened in a split second.  
  
Helen threw down the broken rifle in frustration. She growled to herself, "Lousy bitch!"  
  
Then, she looked down on the floor. A trail of bloodspots lead from where Joanna was standing and down the stairs. Helen smiled and slowly crept into storage room, whispering, "Looks like you didn't quite get away, Dark."  
  
  
  
"I keep getting your sister's radar signal." Elliot said, "It's coming from a large building up ahead."  
  
"That must be it." Velvet replied. As the zoomed across the landscape, Elliot suddenly heard an engine. He looked over and saw a hovercopter speeding towards them. Elliot ducked, the copter flying over and coming within inches of Velvet.  
  
"God damn Sunday pilot!" Elliot screamed, "Bastards like you should have their lisences revocked!"  
  
"Elliot, watch out!" Velvet screamed. He looked foward and found himself about to crash into the side of the Morgan base. He put his paws up and planted them against the metal of the building, his magnets sticking them securly to the building.  
  
"Are you alright?" Elliot asked.  
  
"Once my pulse comes back, I'll tell you." She paused a little and asked, "Do you know which floor we're at right now?"  
  
"Between fourty-seven and fourty-eight. I think I see a loose vent on fourty-nine we can get in." Elliot carefully made his way up the building, Velvet clinging onto him for dear life. When they got to floor ninety-eight, another copter sped by the building, almost hitting Elliot. By now, his patience was running thin.  
  
"Get your eyes examined, dipshit!" He yelled.  
  
"Elliot!"  
  
"What's wrong with these stupid pilots!? They fly like their the only people in the whole damn area!"  
  
"Elliot, be quiet!"  
  
"What's wrong, Vel-" She quickly grabbed his mouth.  
  
"This is a stealth mission." She hissed, "If they catch us, we're going to be in such a mess!"   
  
"What the hell was that?!" A voice yelled from inside. Velvet made sure to pull Elliot away from the window. A dataDyne guard kicked the door down and snuck in with his gun ready. He looked carefully around the room, pointing his gun at everything.   
  
"He didn't see us yet, right?" Velvet whispered, nervously.  
  
"I don't think so." Elliot whispered back, "We don't have a rifle pointed at us. So, I take it he hasn't. Should we try and get up to that vent now or is it too risky?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I'm pretty new at espionage. But, Jo's counting on us, weither she knows it or not. We might as well chance it, Elliot. But, be quiet about it."  
  
Elliot carefully made his way up the wall, towards the vent. But, his metallic feet made stealth nearly impossible. The guard suddenly realised that there was a metal noise outside. He snuck to the window and carefully opened it and pointed his rifle out, in case an armed intruder was there.  
  
Elliot happened to look down and notice the rifle barrel being pointed out the window. He started to panic and whispered, "Velvet. Velvet!"  
  
"What? What is it?"  
  
"I think he's-"  
  
"What the hell are you two doing up there?!" The guard shouted. He'd already stuck his head out and caught sight of them climbing up the side of the complex.  
  
"Oh, shit!" Velvet cursed to herself.  
  
"I said, what the hell are you two up to?! Get down here RIGHT NOW!"  
  
Velvet loaded her Crossbow while Elliot readied the laser gun in his tail. This provoked the guard into firing. As Velvet struggled with her weapon, Elliot managed to hit the guard in the head.  
  
"Thanks." Velvet said, "But, that might have attracted a little attention. We'd better hurry up and get in the vents."  
  
"Roger that." Elliot got up to the vent and let Velvet climb over him and into the vent. Then, he crawled in himself.  
  
  
  
Joanna hid among the crates of the store room. Her breathing was erratic from the fright she got and her heart was just about pounding out of her chest. It got even worse when she suddenly heard slow footsteps. And they were getting closer causing her pulse to go through the roof.  
  
'And I didn't think it could get much faster.' She thought. She then heard a crate get kicked over. A shot of pain suddenly came to her head. She said, 'Oh no! Not now!'  
  
Helen picked up a gun on the wall and searched around the area, looking for any sign of her target. Every now and again, she'd tease her a little by calling "Where are you, Agent Dark? We're not done playing." However, she became increasingly frustrated when Joanna didn't show. Suddenly, she listened carefully and noticed a small noise. A groan. She looked at a stack of crates. She gave a sly smile and aimed the gun.  
  
Joanna was suddenly startled by hearing shots fired right in her direction. Suddenly, the crates she was hiding near toppled over. She barely dodged it, but dropped her Falcon 2. As she made a mad dash for another hiding place, Helen spotted her. She immedietly lifted her rifle and fired at Joanna. She managed to hit her in the leg and the arm, also wreaking her Crossbow. Joanna tripped from the leg wound and fell against a pile of crates. Her weight hitting the pile caused it to fall over on her.   
  
Helen walked over to the pile with a smile on her face. She heard a groan. She pulled some crates off and found Joanna. She was alive, but injured. Helen picked her up by the arm and propped her up against a wall. She then held the rifle to Joanna's neck.  
  
"Well, well." Helen smirked, "This is Carrington's best agent? Not so great now, eh?"  
  
Joanna looked up at her, with a weak but angry glance.  
  
"Has the cat got your tougne?" Helen smirked, "Well, any last requests?"  
  
"As a matter of fact," Joanna groaned, "I wanted to know something."  
  
Helen gave her a look but said, "Go ahead."  
  
"If you want to see me dead so badly, why are you beating around the bush?" Joanna asked, "Are you afraid of having a murder on you conscience?"  
  
"No," Helen replied, keeping her gun trained on Joanna's neck, "I'm simply more intent on watching you suffer than watching you die."  
  
"Aren't you quite the raving lunatic?"  
  
"After what you did to me, why shouldn't I be?"  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"What did you do?" Helen repeated, calmly and with almost a laugh, "Oh, what did you do?" She then suddenly jabbed the gun into Joanna's stomach, then brought it away from Joanna.  
  
"I'll tell you what you did!" She continued, "You caused my sister a great deal of pain and misery! But, what really drove me to this was what you did on the Skedar ship. Remember?"  
  
Joanna thought back a bit in response. The Skedar ship? What could she have done on the Skedar ship that lead to this?  
  
  
  
Joanna started to recover from the blow she took. As the throbbing headache she had finally died down, she tried to remember what happened. That Skedar knocked over a pile of crates, which fell on her. Upon remembering that, she got a bad idea about where she was right now. She groaned, "I'd better not be where I think I am."  
  
As she got up, an all too familiar voice responded, "And it's worse than that, my dear. Just look who you've got for company." She looked up and was shocked to find Cassandra de Vries, standing right next to her.  
  
"You?!" Joanna started. She got to her feet and poised herself for any potential attack as she continued, "I thought you managed to escape! We found no trace of you at all!"  
  
Cassandra just looked at her and said, "You couldn't find me." She started walking casually around the cell. Joanna moved in unison. She wasn't sure what harm someone as old as Cassandra could do, but she didn't trust her any farther than she could throw her. She continued, "But there was no hiding from the Skedar, as you and Mr Carrington just discovered."  
  
Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening and a terrifying, low roar. Then, the sound of footfalls followed.  
  
"This is it! Wait there." Cassandra told her, "I'll make a distraction. That will give you a chance to get out. Use it, or we'll both die."  
  
Joanna was shocked. This woman was a power-hungery conspirator. She was her worst enemy. So, why was she suddenly deciding to help her? She asked, "Why are you doing this, Cassandra?"  
  
Cassandra positioned herself next to the door, saying "The Skedar used me, Joanna. You are my best chance..for revenge." They could hear the computer sounds of the lock's buttons being pressed. When the doors opened, Cassandra rushed out the door and towards the waiting Skedar. The last that was heard from her was a frightened scream.  
  
  
  
"Is that why you called me here to fight you?" Joanna asked.  
  
"Indeed it is." Helen answered, "It will also answer any sickly feelings you've been having."  
  
In response to the odd look she got, she continued, "That's right. I poisoned you. I wanted you to feel as much pain as humanly possible. I've waited many years for this moment. Revenge."  
  
"Helen, you don't understand." Joanna said. She was trying to see if those negotiating lessons back during training would finally help her, "That wasn't me. It was the Skedar. She threw herself to it and it killed her. Don't do something you'll regret later."  
  
"Oh, beleive me. I won't regret a minute of this" Helen growled. She put the gun against Joanna's neck again, "Say good night, Agent Dark."   
  
Joanna, beleiving this was it, closed her eyes and turned her head away. Helen was about to pull the trigger when she suddenly heard something banging around in the vent above. Suddenly, a part on the vent came loose and crashed down between her and Joanna. She backed up as Velvet and Elliot came crashing down with it. Velvet quickly sprang to her feet and pointed her gun.  
  
"Drop it or your dead!" She demanded. Helen gave her a questioning look. She just stared at her, only bringing the gun slightly away from Joanna.  
  
"You heard me!" She demanded again, "Drop the gun and put your hands in plain sight!"  
  
Helen chuckled quietly at her. Velvet was loosing her patience. She screamed, "This is your last chance! Put the God damn gun down!"  
  
"Beleive me," Helen finally muttered, "You're in no position to make demands." Quicker than anyone could blink, Helen suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed Velvet in the arm. She dropped the gun, but kicked Helen in the leg to distract her. In response, Helen pistol-whipped her in the side of the head. She fell down, stunned but not hurt badly. She looked up, recovering from her stun. She was shocked and terrified to find Helen standing over her, rifle in hand.  
  
"You'll regret trifling with me, girl." She growled, aiming the rifle. Velvet closed her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a gun fire, but nothing hit her. She then heard the sound of a gun hitting the floor and the sound of someone running. She looked up and saw Elliot, with a laser cannon sticking out of his back.  
  
"Yeah, you better run, you coward!" He screamed. He then noticed Velvet run past. She went over to Joanna. By now, she was barely consiouss. She seemed to be breathing harder. Velvet checked her fever again and was shocked to find that she was burning up.   
  
'Oh no! She can't die!' Velvet thought in a panic, 'Not now!' Velvet picked her up. It was hard, since Joanna was a little taller than her, but she was panicing. She was running out of time!  
  
"Elliot!" She called. Elliot trotted up to her, "Elliot, do you think you can carry two people?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I tried it once before, back in the garage, and things got pretty messy."  
  
"Then we need a new way out. I wonder if Jon's nearby." She worked her comlink a bit and said, "Jon. Johnathon, can you hear me?"   
  
"Loud and clear." replied the voice on the other end, "Any luck?"  
  
"Yeah, I found Joanna alive. But, she's getting worse. We need to get her to the hospital and get the antidote in her as fast as we can."  
  
"No problem. I just got out of the building with it. I'll be right over."  
  
  
  
Velvet paced nervously outside the emergency room door of the CI's hospital wing. Johnathon had come by with the jump ship to get them. They injected the antidote in there, not wanting to waste time. She didn't improve right away, which made them even more nervous. She went directly to the ER once she arrived. Velvet was able to bandage her own stab wound, which really wasn't that bad.  
  
"She'll be fine." Elvis told her, sitting in a nearby chair, "She's strong. She can handle this."  
  
"Do you realise how sick she was?! What if we didn't get the thing in time?!"  
  
"Ms. Dark?" A nurse asked as she walked in. Velvet, startled, jumped a bit. She relaxed, turned around and faced her.  
  
"How is she?" She asked.  
  
"She'll be fine. But, she'll need to be under observation for a couple of days to make sure it's really over."  
  
"Can I see her?"  
  
"Of course, right this way." Elvis decided to go tell Johnathon the good news first, before visiting, and left to find him.  
  
  
  
As Joanna lay in the hospital bed, she heard a knock on the door. She propped herself up a little and called, "Come in."  
  
Velvet came in and smiled to her, greeting, "Hello. Are you feeling better?"  
  
"Yes. I'm still pretty tired, but at least I'm not getting headaches anymore."  
  
"Glad to hear it." Velvet sat down next to the bed. The two were silent for a while. Then Joanna finally cleared her throat.  
  
"So, you were the one that helped me, weren't you?"  
  
"Yes, but I wasn't alone. Jon helped out a lot. Elvis helped a little, too. And then, there was Elliot."  
  
"Elliot? Never heard of him."  
  
Suddenly, there was a clang outside the window. They looked and saw Elliot, hanging off the side of the bbuilding with his magnetic paws. Velvet sighed and saied, "That's Elliot."  
  
She went to the window and opened it. Since Elliot had two paws on the window frame, he lost his balance and fell into the room. Elliot stood up and shook himself. He looked at Velvet as she asked, "What the hell were you doing, Elliot?!"  
  
"Visiting." Elliot said, "It ain't a crime for a robot cat to visit in a hospital, is it?"  
  
"I suppose not, but you're going to give the nurse a heart attack if she finds you."  
  
"What better place for her to have a heart attack than a hospital?"   
  
Joanna giggled at Elliot's comment and said, "Quite the character, isn't he?"  
  
"I guess you can call him a new recruit. Trust me, you will grow to hate him."  
  
"Well, I'd love to stay, but Shane only wanted me here for a little while. Better shake a gear and leave. Nice meeting ya." He went out the door. There was a sudden shreik. He came rushing in and said, "On second thought, I'd better take the window." He zoomed out the window only a few minutes before the nurse came rushing in.  
  
"What the hell was that?!" She shreiked.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about him." Joanna said.  
  
"Yeah," Velvet added, "He's just a visitor." The nurse gave a frightened sigh and left, muttering about how crazy this medical wing could get, between spies and guards and robotic visitors.  
  
The two sisters sat in silence again until Velvet said, "Joanna?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I really have to get something off my chest or I'm going to go mad."  
  
"Alright, let's hear it."  
  
"Listen, you really gave me a scare when you got sick like that. In fact, there are a lot of times when I just about have panic attacks worrying about you. I'd really appreiciate it if you were a little more careful during your missions. Ever since the Skedar.."  
  
"You really do get scared over this, don't you?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Alright, I'll try and be a little more careful."  
  
Velvet flung her arms around her and said, "Thanks."  
  
The two hugged for what seemed like hours. When they finally seperated, Velvet said, "Well, I'd better leave you alone so you can get a little rest."  
  
"Alright. See you around, Velvet." Joanna yawned a little then layed down and went to sleep.  
  
"See you." Velvet said, as she left.  
  
THE END 


End file.
